Smith was an only child and grew up in the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego, California. He graduated from Mission Bay High School in 1995, enlisted in the United States Air Force in July 1995 and served for six years. He was a ground radio maintenance (2E) specialist and was promoted to staff sergeant in August 2000. He completed his military service in 2002. As a Foreign Service employee, he lived in The Hague, Netherlands, with his wife, Heather, and children, Samantha and Nathan.[3][4]

Smith was known as a leading player and former member of the Council of Stellar Management in the Eve Online gaming community (under the username "Vile Rat") and was a moderator on the Something Awful forums.[9][10][11] On the day of his death, Smith typed a message to the director of his online gaming corporation that read, "Assuming we don't die tonight. We saw one of our 'police' that guard the compound taking pictures."[4]Eve Online '​s Council of Stellar Management published a tribute to Smith two days after Smith's death.[12] Spontaneous reactions from the player base included a mass renaming of outposts throughout the game universe.[13] Zack Parsons of Something Awful later organized a benefit for Smith's family, raising US$127,000.[8][14]